Sarah said: “It was a very nice little moment. You could tell Andy is a dog lover. He asked what breed Alfie was and said, ‘Oh, he’s cute.’”

Andy finally clinched his first Grand Slam title – the first for a British man in 76 years – in a five-hour thriller against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic last week.

He said: “The last two months have been just unbelievable. It’s the best couple of months of my life.”

He added that he regretted missing the Glasgow Homecoming Parade of London 2012 stars on Friday but was simply too exhausted after the US Open to attend.

He said: “I slept for two-and-a-half hours in two or three days after the final, so I wasn’t in any fit state.”

Andy also revealed he woke up a couple of days ago and found himself thinking he had just dreamed his US Open victory.

He said: “The first couple of days after the match were just so busy, it really didn’t sink in. I just woke up asking myself, ‘Did it really happen?’ When I realised it did, that was when I began to really enjoy it.”

Many people believe a knighthood is in the bag for Andy but he was in no rush yesterday.

He said modestly: “I think I should probably have to do more than I have to be honoured like that.”

Flags were waved throughout Andy's big day

Schoolgirl Heather King travelled from Dunning, Perthshire, with her family to see her hero and was stunned when Andy posed for a photo.

Heather, 13, said: “This is the best day of my life and I still can’t believe it. Andy asked how we were doing then posed for the photo. I was shaking with excitement.”

Andy’s boxing pal Alex Arthur was at Dunblane Golf Club to greet his mate.

Former super featherweight world champ Alex said: “I call him ‘big man’ and he calls me ‘big man’ back, that’s how we address each other. We have a good bit of banter.”

Another pal to welcome Andy home was Keith Meisner, 25, who played with him in junior tennis.

Keith, a PE teacher and tennis coach, said: “I caught Andy’s eye and we had a nice conversation.”

Martin Abercromby and Stewart McClymont starred with Andy for local football team Auchterarder Primrose and caught up with him for a chat. Martin said: “It’s brilliant to see Andy again.”

Stewart added: “Judy came in to my work and said Andy would like to see a few of his old pals and could I come up for a catch-up.”